(almost) wordless wednesday The Great Tamale Campaign of 2012: Prep Work

With Friday's delivery date looming, work begins in the kitchen the night before the tamale masa will be picked up, and if all goes right, we'll begin rolling some 3000 tamales on Wednesday. (But it doesn't go right. And that's for tomorrow's post.)

As of this point, all is on schedule.  It's quiet in the kitchen, and we dig in to make meat fillings. Sauces and vegetable fillings will be made the next day, as we roll tamales.  Or so we think.

We seasoned and slow-roasted 9 gigantic hunks of pork, then, early the next morning, trimmed them of fat, sliced, and seasoned some more...

That man on the left?  Worked a ten hour day, then met me in the kitchen for 6 more, smiling all the while.  On two hours of sleep, he'll repeat the next day.

We sliced 8 smoked briskets, and did our best to keep from eating it all as we worked...

We poached 80 pounds of chicken, then shredded, seasoned, and mixed with green chiles...

We soaked 20 pounds of husks, to begin with....

And we finally hit the hay early, early, the next morning, for a 5am wake-up alarm.  And several subsequent snooze button-hits, before we're off for the masa, and a stop for fuel on the way to pick up one of many tireless helpers.......

Yep. A.M.

All runs a little less smoothly, and the action picks up, continued, tomorrow, on Notes From Maggie's Farm.